Over 50 new maps and blueprints have been digitized and added to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, Western Carolina University. Stretching from 1927 to 1988, these maps detail the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountains, Jackson County, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and more.
A section of the master plan to WCU, dated April 1978. E.J. Whitmire Stadium is in the top right.
There is a huge amount of variety in the maps in this batch. One map from 1930 includes planting and sectional plans for the Rock Garden Memorial at Western Carolina University. Other maps, such as the Cullowhee Quadrangle Map, were commissioned by the Tennessee Valley Authority to map entire towns like Cullowhee, Sylva, and Dillsboro and mountain ranges. Several maps were double-sided, and included local information or scenic photographs of interest on the reverse side.
This batch also introduces orthophotos to DigitalNC, the first of their kind on our website. Aerial photographs that have been scale-corrected for use in geographic information systems (GIS), these orthophotos show us how Jackson County looked from above in the 1980s. As you can see, the 1980 orthophoto featured below corresponds to how WCU was plotted out in the master plan above.
The equivalent orthophoto of the above master plan showing WCU, dated April 1980. E.J. Whitmire Stadium is in the top right.
The majority of the maps from this collection detail the Blue Ridge Parkway throughout western North Carolina and Virginia, drawn by the Department of the Interior National Park Service between 1942 and 1967. We also have the privilege to include eight segmented maps of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail from the 1980s.
All of these maps and additions represent an important addition to our collection of knowledge about the Appalachians. To see more materials from Western Carolina University, visit their contributor page or visit their website.
Advertising for alcoholic beverages is far from new – ads promoting the perceived benefits and refreshment of beer go back quite a ways. In honor of National Drink Beer Day, we bring you beer trivia and ads from North Carolina newspapers. Raise a glass and enjoy!
- They were importing London Lager to North Carolina as early as 1801. From the Wilmington Gazette.
- Go local! This 1860 ad is for a well-known area brewery, the Menzler brewery, near Charlotte. From the Western Democrat.
- The Menzler brewery wanted to cater your party – 30 gallons available! From the Western Democrat.
- 1888 saw 6 breweries erected in North Carolina. From the Wilson Advance.
- This 1906 beer advertisement promises good health if you drink their pure beer. From the Hickory Democrat.
- In 1936 beer ads were still promising health benefits – Schlitz is a glass of sunshine with Vitamin D. From The Enterprise.
- Prohibitionists often used newspapers to persuade the public, like they did with this ad from the 1940s calling on voters to reject legalization of alcohol sales in Jackson County. From The Sylva Herald.
- Promising comfort during outdoor adventures, legal sale of beer was deemed as the progressive standpoint in this 1961 ad. From The Duplin Times.
Young Man on Bicycle for Newspaper Delivery, photo by Albert Rabil, April 23, 1951. Courtesy the Braswell Memorial Library.
It’s time to announce our annual round of microfilmed newspaper digitization! As in previous years, we’re asking cultural heritage institutions in the state to nominate papers from their communities to be digitized. We’re especially interested in:
- newspapers published 1923 or later,
- newspapers that are not currently available in digital form elsewhere online, and/or
- newspapers covering underrepresented regions or communities.
If you’re interested in nominating a paper and you work at a cultural heritage institution that qualifies as a partner, here’s what to do:
- Check out our criteria for selecting newspapers, listed below.
- Verify that the newspaper you’d like to see digitized exists on microfilm. Email us (digitalnc@unc.edu) if you’re not sure.
- Send us an email with the name of the newspaper you would like to nominate, along with the priority years you’re interested in seeing online. Please talk briefly about how the paper and your institution meet the criteria below.
- Be prepared to talk with the local rights holder(s) to gain written permission to digitize the paper and share it online. We can give you advice on this part, if needed.
Nominations will be taken through the end of 2018. However, don’t wait! We typically get many more requests than we can accommodate. Please contact us at digitalnc@unc.edu or 919-962-4836 with any questions. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Criteria for Selecting Newspapers to Digitize from Microfilm
Titles to be digitized will be selected using the following criteria:
- Does the newspaper document traditionally underrepresented regions or communities?
- Does the newspaper include significant coverage of the local community?
- Does the newspaper come from an area of the state that has little representation on DigitalNC? (Titles that have not previously been digitized will be given priority.)
- Are the images of the pages on microfilm legible, or are there significant sections where it is difficult to read the text?
- Is the institution willing to obtain permission from the current publisher or rights holder(s) to digitize older issues and make them freely available online?
- If the newspaper is digitized, will the nominating library promote the digital project through programs and announcements?
You can now browse through 175 issues of The Stentorian, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics’ (NCSSM) student-run newspaper. NCSSM is a residential high school located in Durham, NC. It was founded in 1980 to provide a two-year public education to high school students focusing on science, math, and technology.
The Stentorian covers student life and school events spanning the last four decades, from 1981 to 2017. Highlights include drama productions, additions and changes to campus, sports, student government, staff news, and prom do’s and don’t’s. The student journalism also extended beyond campus boundaries to include current events, such as this article on the history of the Islamic State, and this article on the hazards of social media.
This special graduation issue highlights the graduating senior class of 1991
With a unicorn as their mascot, the paper is filled with unicorn-themed images, stories, and Uni-pride.
Mr. Unicorn, from November 1, 1982 issue of the Stentorian.
Unicorn article from December 1, 2005 issue of the Stentorian.
These issues provide a glimpse into the lives of the students, teachers, and staff, and the activities that defined their time at NCSSM. From a student perspective, the Stentorian gives us a not-so-long-ago history of this unique campus and the world.
These student newspapers complement the already digitized yearbooks from NCSSM. To browse through the yearbooks and newspapers available from NCSSM, check out their partner page.
The CCCC Etheridge High Tech building under construction
An aerial view of the Central Carolina Technical College Harnett campus
A new batch of over 130 images from Central Carolina Community College have now been added to DigitalNC. This is our seventh set of photos and it brings our exhibit A Pictorial History of Central Carolina Community College to almost 3,000 photos!
Much of this set is about the various buildings around CCCC, including the construction of the CCCC Pittsboro campus, the construction of the CCCC Etheridge High Tech building, and the planning and construction of the CCCC Harnett County campus. Also included are photos of the NC School of Telecommunications, the Harnett Correctional Institute, and several aerial photographs taken of the CCCC Campus in Harnett County.
To learn more about Central Carolina Community College, please visit their contributor page or their website. To see more photos like this, check out A Pictorial History of Central Carolina Community College Collection and the Images of North Carolina Collection.
Bear cub on a hillside.
County Warden Bardel and District Forester Kimball pose by a tree in 1926.
Photographs and vertical files from our newest partner, The Forest History Society, are now online at DigitalNC. The Forest History Society is a nonprofit organization located in Durham, North Carolina, that is dedicated to the collection and preservation of materials concerning forest history and conservation. The Forest History Society represents information about forestry around the world, but the materials now up on DigitalNC are specific to North Carolina.
Vertical files from this batch cover topics like forestry schools in North Carolina, the Cherokee National Forest, the Pisgah National Forest, the Southern Forest Experiment Station, the effects of Hurricane Hugo, Fran, Hortense, and Bertha on NC forests. Each vertical files contain a range of materials such as newspaper clippings, pamphlets, maps, images, reports, press releases, magazine articles and correspondence. Materials in the files are text searchable and provide a great overview of forestry issues in North Carolina.
The images in this batch also document a wide variety of subjects related to forestry. Fire prevention is one major theme of this image collection with photographs of fire towers, forest fire prevention signs, and fire control exhibits. There are also images of different tree and plant species, nurseries and planting efforts, tree damage and disease, and portraits of foresters, wardens, and rangers.
To browse through all of these materials, visit The Forest History Society’s partner page, and learn more by visiting their website.
One of the many fire prevention signs in the image collection.
A new set of photos from Central Carolina Community College is now available on DigitalNC. This is our sixth batch of photos and it brings the exhibit A Pictorial History of Central Carolina Community College, to nearly 2,800 photos!
A veterinary student holding a python
This batch covers the veterinary medical technology program and the welding program from Central Carolina Technical Institute.
Featuring photos from the 1960’s to well into the 1990’s, the collection for the veterinary medical program contains exciting photos of students holding and working with many different types of animals, including cats, dogs, snakes, cows, horses, and goats. Many of the students worked directly with the animals themselves, although several of the photos also show exhibit presentations and technology of the time.
A veterinary student clipping a cat’s claws
The welding program collection also has photos over the course of thirty years and shows off many of the technology and welding tools of the time, as well as how students also used hands-on learning in their classes.
A welding student working on a project
To learn more about Central Carolina Community College, please visit their contributor page or their website. To see more photos like this, check out A Pictorial History of Central Carolina Community College Collection and the Images of North Carolina Collection.
North Carolina Brigade at Camp Stewart, El Paso, Texas
Panoramic photos of Company K and the 120th Infantry, provided by Randolph County Public Library, are now online at DigitalNC. These photos, taken from 1914-1919, show Company K, which was comprised of men from Asheboro, and the larger North Carolina Brigade in a variety of locations.
Company K, 120th Infantry 30th (Old Hickory) Division at Camp Jackson, S.C.
The locations of the photos include Camp Sevier and Camp Jackson, both located in South Carolina, and Camp Stewart in El Paso, Texas. One photo of Camp Sevier shows an aerial shot of soldiers in formation along with camp structures and buildings. Many of these photos include some identifying information including names of soldiers or commanding officers in the photo. The panoramic nature of these photos gives the viewer a unique sense of these camps and required us to use special photo equipment reserved for digitizing large materials!
120th Infantry at Camp Sevier, S.C.
Click here to browse the photos. To see more materials from Randolph County Public Library visit their partner page or take a look at their website.
Company K, 120th Infantry 30th Division at Camp Sevier, S.C.
Another batch of photos from Central Carolina Community College is now available on DigitalNC. This new batch brings the exhibit, A Pictorial History of Central Carolina Community College, to just over 2,400 photos.
First graduates of the CCCC’s Nursing degree program
This batch documents the Nursing, Paralegal, Secretarial Science, Telephony, Associate in Arts and University Transfer Associate in Science programs.
Featuring photos from as early as their first graduating class in Lee County on March 25, 1964 and on into the 1990’s, the images from the Practical Licensed Nursing degree program demonstrates the evolving student body, curriculum, technology and, of course, nursing uniforms.
Secretarial Science student using a floppy drive
Likewise, the Secretarial Science program gives viewers a glimpse into how this profession evolved as technology did. In particular, these collection of images capture the exciting transition from typewriters to early desktops.
Telephony students training on telephone pole, 1966
In contrast to these programs, the Central Carolina Technical Institute Telephony and Electrical Linemen program’s set of photos display the waning profession of telephone linemen and women. These set of photos present the hands-on training students received as they worked with lines, wires, circuits and telephone poles.
Hands-on training is further demonstrated in many other class photos. One of interesting example, comes from a Psychology class that appears to be engaging in some kind of simulation activity that included persons in costume and law enforcement officers. While it is unclear exactly what the activity entails, it is clear that the students were having fun participating.
Pyschology class exercise
To learn more about Central Carolina Community College, please visit their contributor page or their website. To see more photos like this, check out the Images of North Carolina Collection.
Why use 1 monitor when you can use 4! — Image from the 2016 yearbook.
Students in the 1981 yearbook working with personal computers.
34 editions of Odyssey by North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, are now online. These yearbooks span the years 1981-2016, and document the lives of high school students at the school. North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) is a two-year public residential high school that serves juniors and seniors from across the state. Located in Durham, North Carolina, the NCSSM curriculum focuses heavily on science, math, and technology.
The focus on technology can be seen throughout the yearbook collection, with plenty of photographs of students exploring the newest technology of the day in traditional academic and independent project settings. While many images in the 1981 yearbook focus on students working with early personal computers, images from the 2016 yearbook show students engaged with virtual reality and robotics equipment. As students live at the school full-time, there are also many photos of student life including photos of students in front of their dorms and various performances and events.
To browse all of the NCSSM yearbooks, click here. To learn more about NCSSM, visit their partner page, or take a look at their website.
Students with virtual reality equipment in the 2016 yearbook
